


L E M O N A D E

by Roman (Ghoul1gan)



Category: Bandom, Waterparks (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Band, Confrontations, Creepy, Eventual Romance, F/M, Implied/Referenced Sexual Harassment, Moving, Neighbors, No Smut, Personal Experience, Potentially triggering, Stalking, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:40:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24557791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghoul1gan/pseuds/Roman
Summary: Moving was how Lynnette was going to cut ties with her old life. Start fresh and create new memories. But of course, nothing's that clean cut. A dark part of her past follows her to her new home, and she finally has to confront it head on.
Relationships: Awsten Knight/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 3





	1. Tiptoe

**Author's Note:**

> Before anyone starts picking this apart, I'd like to preface it with this:
> 
> This is all written with grains of truth. This is written from my own personal experience and it's a way for me to vent my frustrations. I'm sorry if this causes you discomfort, but it's supposed to. What happens to Lynnette isn't right, and it should never be romanticized. 
> 
> Now for more specific things. Robbie is supposed to be gross and creepy, because that's how I view my stalker. I don't know my stalker on a level high enough to understand why he does what he does, or if he might have legitimate issues that need to be addressed. I don't know these things, and I never really will. Robbie's behaviors reflect those of my stalker, plain and simple.

If anyone had asked months before, Lynnette would’ve said that her life was fine. Everything was progressing fine, things were okay. Her relationship with her parents was okay, her career choice was alright, things were happening slowly but surely. That’s how life is supposed to happen.

It wasn’t until Lynnette had sat down and really thought about it again, that she realized… she wasn’t fine. Her mind hadn’t been on her work. She didn’t really have many friends to turn to when she wanted a night out or someone to watch movies with. Her relationship with her parents didn’t go any further than nurturing and being given vague advice every now and then. Lynn was… well, she was quite alone. 

Maybe everyone came to that conclusion at this stage in their life, but Lynnette hadn’t expected it. Nor had she expected her childhood creep to be the thing that made her think back on it.

Here she was, sitting on the floor of her new apartment, slowly rocking back and forth as she chewed her nail and thought about the dark haired creeper she had feared as a child.

It was because of him, that Lynnette’s father had taken her aside and taught her spare martial arts moves and stances. This creep was the reason Lynn and her brother had grown inseparable at age twelve and on. 

Lynnette knew her fear was silly on a logical level. This guy was an utter coward and simply followed her around. Well… that and the occasional heart-felt letter about making her scream his name being left on her doorstep. He’d never actually touched her or threatened her, he was just the absolute worst at making his interest known in subtle ways. Hell, Lynnette was about twice his size. She could probably bat him around with one hand.

But she had moved here hoping to leave people like him behind. To just forget about it all. She never wanted it to get to the point where she’d have to fight him or call for help. 

She stood up on her knees to look out her window, spotting the aforementioned creep three stories down on the sidewalk, mumbling to himself and staring at the floor. She wished she didn’t feel bad for him. She wished she didn’t have some sort of sympathy. He obviously wasn’t mentally well, whether neurological or drug induced, and he might actually function normally if he’d just go get help. 

She rubbed her face with a hand and closed her eyes before sitting back down. It was silly. He wasn’t hurting her. Why call anyone. Why freak out so bad?

_But why let it continue? Why just lie down and take it when it’s obviously causing stress?_

Lynnette liked that side of her mind. She appreciated that it was ready to take charge and defend her, rather than just let it be.

Obviously it wasn’t something that didn’t affect her. She was sitting on her living room floor, of her new apartment she had moved to, because of this fucking weirdo. And to top it off, she had either spoken about where she was going too loudly, or he had the mental capacity to follow her there.

She looked to the boxes stacked around the room. She had a baseball bat somewhere.

_Wait no. Don’t resort to violence yet, and if it comes to that, make it personal._

Lynnette sighed and stood from her spot on the carpeted brown floor. It was time to confront her fears. Really, it had been time years ago, but now she couldn’t simply let it slide and rationalize it away.

= = = = =

“Hey. Hey you, Robbie!” Lynnette shouted at the all-too-familiar hunched figure.

He stumbled back, frozen as he looked at her. 

Lynnette couldn’t tell if this was fear on his face, or simple shock that he was being acknowledged. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

Robbie’s hands went to his coat pockets and he glanced between the ground and her. “Uh… I uh…”

“Did you follow me all the way here?”

“Uhm… this might sound a bit weird.”

“A bit weird? Robbie, do you know what weird means? Do you understand that there’s a rather thick line between mildly strange and fucking insane? Did you. Follow me. To my new place of living? Simple question, bud.”

Robbie didn’t answer, he simply turned away and slowly ambled on. Looking back at her cautiously.

Lynnette wasn’t done. “Robbie! This is a serious fucking thing you’re doing. DID YOU FOLLOW ME HERE?!”

He continued to walk away, barely acknowledging her anymore. 

She was used to him stopping like an animal, and looking at her for uncomfortable lengths of time when he could, but it seemed he actually understood that she meant business this time.

Lynnette turned to march back up the stairs into her apartment and was met with a new face. It was a rather curious face, with dark eyebrows and a smooth yet defined jawline. Maybe it was the adrenaline that made her so observant.

“Uh, what was that about?” the stranger asked. “I mean uh, if you don’t mind me asking, that is.”

She crossed her arms and looked to the stranger. “He’s my neighbor from before I moved here… and now he’s here. I uh. He’s uh.”

“A bit of a creep?” the stranger finished for her.

“You could say that, yeah.” Lynnette nodded. She looked at the stairs behind the stranger and gestured towards them. “I think I’m gonna call the police, let them know that I think I’m being stalked.”

“Yeah. I would. And if that doesn’t help, you can always ask me for help. I live in B7. Punching a creep seems like an amazingly productive way to finish a day.”

Lynnette offered a shaky smile in response and hopped up the stairs as fast as she could without tripping. She hated this feeling. It made it hard to actually appreciate what her new neighbor was trying to do for her, and it made it hard for her to keep her thoughts straight. Just that intense burning anxiety behind her brain, making everything shake almost imperceptibly.

She just needed to hold it together long enough to make a phone call and answer the questions she’d undoubtedly be asked.

= = = = =

The stone stairs underneath her were cold and harsh. At least out here she could see if Robbie was coming, and she’d have a straight shot. Just wail in on him with her fists or something. Kick him. Punch him in the spine maybe. 

Lynnette clenched her fists and took a deep, rattling breath before resting her head on the railing she was propped against. 

It felt like no matter what she did, the odds were stacked against her. The police wouldn’t help unless there was evidence, and apparently some guy moving in tandem with you wasn’t enough to raise some eyebrows. 

She gave a frustrated huff and stood again, marching up the stairs into her barren apartment, only furnished by egg crates and boxes.

Maybe if she kept reporting him something would come of it. Maybe he’d leave and give up. Maybe he’d get hit by a truck and she’d never have to think about him again.

_I thought the whole point of this was to not have to resort to something like violence and actually talk it out._

No matter what, it still felt like she was exhausting everything too early. To be honest she was baffled by how badly this whole thing debilitated her, it had been a simple one sided conversation this morning, and all she could do was think about it. She hadn’t even eaten anything today because she was so wrapped up in it.

Lynnette rubbed her eyelids and locked the deadbolt of her front door. 

Maybe food and a shower would do her some good.


	2. Mr. Sinister

Every day at 11 AM, the bastard was strolling past the front of her building. Like fucking clockwork. It was the same thing he had been doing when they lived in Oregon. He had taken her routine into account, and made his own to mirror hers so he could follow her. At least when Lynnette had lived in Oregon she had a dog to frighten him away.

Now all she had was herself and her anxiety gnawing at the back of her brain as he paced around her building.

The only reason Lynnette could confidently say that this was his new routine, was because this had been the third day. Once was chance. Twice was coincidence. Thrice was a pattern. If Robbie was going to follow all of his old habits, Lynnette at least knew how he’d behave. She could ignore him and simply disrupt her routine to avoid him. This made it easy to report though, so at least she had that going for her.

She’d called the police often enough now, and at the right time to catch the same desk jockey handling her reports. Her name was Brenda, and as much as Brenda wanted to help, as she’d told Lynnette before, ‘The police around here won’t do much in the face of this. A damn shame. However, if anything were to happen between you two, now that we have all of these reports coming in, we have mounting evidence of your discomfort and his lingering. This does help, I promise.’

Lynnette tried to take what comfort she could from those words. She really did, but all it seemed to scream was “We don’t care. It’s not important.”, and somehow that made Lynnette feel like this truly was a useless gesture. 

She picked up the phone, staring down at the answering machine sitting on her kitchen counter, and dialed the number she’d written down on a note card. 

Another conversation with Brenda wouldn’t be so bad. She just had to give times, what Robbie was doing, and give a description again. It was simple really. It was just tiring. 

Lynnette heard a soft click as her call was picked up and she felt a sinking feeling in her stomach as she began the process once more.

= = = = =

“Hey, I uh, I noticed that that guy was walking around outside again. I called the police, filed a report.” 

Lynnette rested against her open front door and smiled at her neighbor. The same guy that had seen the initial interaction. She had completely forgotten about him if she was being honest. Well… not completely, his bright green hair was hard to miss, but she couldn’t remember much about him.

“I don’t know what to say in this situation… um. Thanks for notifying me?”

“Yeah, I just thought you should know in case you missed him or something. Which, now that I say it, sounds really fucking stupid.” he widened his eyes at the concrete under his feet and let out a sigh. “I had good intentions, I swear.”

Lynnette couldn’t help but chuckle at the stranger. At the very least, he was a good tension breaker. “I appreciate it, my dude.” she adjusted her grip on the cold metal of her door before opening her mouth again. “I don’t want to sound rude or anything, but I can’t remember your name.”

The stranger seemed to perk up at that, which seemed like a strange response to someone forgetting about you, but whatever float his boat, she guessed. 

“I actually can’t remember if I told you my name. But uh, my name’s Awsten, spelled weird with a W and everything, and I live in B7.” he finished, pointing somewhere downstairs behind him. He looked like a cartoon character if Lynn was being honest.

“Well thank you, Awsten. I appreciate you looking out for me.” she smiled before stumbling to add, “My name’s Lynn by the way.” 

“Glad I don’t have to call you Blonde in my head anymore. It’s uh… nice to make your acquaintance. If you ever wanna hang out or something, I’m always up for something silly. Or food related. Food’s good.”

Lynn snickered at Awsten. “I’ll try to keep that in mind. Thanks again.”

“Anytime, see you later, Lynn.” Awsten waved as he stepped away, moving to the stairs that led to his floor.

Lynnette closed her door, watching the green haired man walk away. It was weird. No one in her old apartment complex had said anything about Robbie even though it had been obvious. 

She couldn’t help but wonder if Awsten might just be a different kind of creep.

The more she thought about it, the more she knew it might be straight up paranoia, but she didn’t want to fall into another trap. She had been nice to Robbie when they had first met, and look at where it had led. Lynn had simply treated him with basic respect and kindness when he let her sit next to him on the school bus, and now he felt entitled to her in some weird way. Like he had the right to be involved in her life at all times.

She shuddered and stepped away from her door with quiet steps. This always led to her not trusting anyone. She hated it. Lynnette liked having people she could depend on. But so far the only people to not leave her or creep on her were her blood relatives.

Even worse, is that every time she started thinking about this sort of thing, she remembered all of the first world problems memes she laughed at as a kid, and felt like she was becoming one of them.

At least instead of bitching about it constantly she actually tried to report it to the proper authorities. Not that that was actually solving the issue right now. Nor did Brenda’s reassuring comments about how “if it came to anything” there would be an actual case, help her.

Lynnette looked to the clock hung up on her wall, “Of course… now it’s noon.” she mumbled to herself in her eerily quiet apartment.

She didn’t feel like walking anywhere. Not now. Maybe she’d unpack some more, do some laundry… scroll through some local animal shelter’s website. Maybe getting an animal companion would help her cope with some of this. 

She knew she missed her family cat and dog. But paying an ass load of money to fly out to see them was exhausting, especially when she needed the support around the clock.

Lynnette shook her head and moved down the hall to start her laundry. She could think on it some more. Pets were a lot more than a coping tool, and she needed to be more sure she could dedicate the time and affection, and make sure her job wouldn’t get in the way of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably my first work that has chapter titles that make sense, and add flavor.


	3. Open Doors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lynnette finally takes up Awsten's offer of hanging out. The first in hopefully many steps to recovering and making friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay hey, it's been a long while since I wrote for this and I've been through quite a bit. I would however like to take a moment to say that if you are being stalked or harassed and you're reading this, please contact the authorities. I know the public relationship with the police is garbage, but someone might be able to help, and it's better to report it than leave it until it decides to bite you.

With a shaky hand she knocked on the door to apartment B7. It had been nearly a month since Awsten had first invited her to approach him with hanging out, and she’d finally remembered. 

Lynn nibbled her lip as she waited, her ears seeming to flex in the dull quiet until she heard his footsteps, sure and steady, approach the door. It was nice to know she wasn’t going to be discouraged by dead silence. Or at least, if she was, she knew for a fact she had valid reasons to occasionally worry about him being a snake.

The door opened with a strange squeal, and Lynn looked down to see the torn flaps at the bottom of the door… maybe he had a cat?

She sure hoped he wasn’t the one clawing and chewing at the base. Although, it was an amusing mental image if she let herself dwell on it for a moment.

Lynn glanced back up to meet his hazel eyes and smiled, “Hi! Awsten. It was about time I came over and said hello.”

Awsten just kind of stood there, looking at her with wide eyes before he seemed to jolt and step back. “Shit, sorry. My brain fried. But yes, it is about time.” he waved her in and stood a couple yards from the entrance, spreading his arms and taking a turn. “Welcome to mi casa.”

Lynn stepped inside, closing the door gently behind her and glancing around to see if he had a special rule on shoes. Didn’t look like it, so she left them on.

Awsten paused for a moment and dropped his arms, “Do you want a tour real quick? I’m pretty sure our floor plans are just about the same.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it. I doubt I need to know more than the living area and the bathroom.” Lynn shrugged.

“Well alright.... Alright.” he looked to the ground and spaced off for a moment before he sat on the armchair, leaving the loveseat to his guest. “So, how are you, Lynn? I don’t think we’ve ever really gotten a chance to talk.”

Lynn nodded and sat down on the loveseat, turning so her full attention was on Awsten. “Well, I’m pretty good. I finally got myself a dining table. I mean… it’s a folding card table, but it’s a table.”

Awsten snickered at that, but it looked like he was remembering a time when he could relate.

Lynnette glanced around, looking at the things he had set around on end tables and hung on the walls. She wasn’t sure who many of these people were, but she knew for a fact that Awsten- well actually she didn’t know anything as fact, but she was pretty sure Awsten didn’t have any actual personal connection to Danny Devito.

Awsten followed her eyes before looking back to Lynn, “Yeah that’s my apprentice. He’s a bit of a late bloomer, and I took him under my wing. He’s got potential.”

Lynn giggled a bit before shaking her head. “So, you’ve asked me how I am, how are you?”

The green haired gremlin fiddled with the arm of his chair before nodding a little and responding, “Could be better, could be worse. I haven’t wanted to punch a dude this hard in a long while, but I guess strange things happen when life moves like water.”

Awsten looked to be in deep thought before he decided to explain what he meant. “Robbie. I want to punch Robbie.”

Lynnette breathed a sigh of relief. That made sense. To be honest, Lynn wanted to punch Robbie too, but she didn’t want everything she’d been working on to be thrown out because she could be deemed violent and unstable. “I can definitely relate. I just wish in some demented way that he’d do something while someone was recording so it wouldn’t be seen as me assaulting him for nothing.”

A dark spark lit up Awsten’s blue green eyes, and Lynn could feel the anger from across the room. It was a bit strange to feel that level of heat from such a friendly guy. Even stranger, was being able to feel that it wasn’t directed at her. It was almost a parental rage. A father seething at a bully’s parents maybe.

“Hey, it’s fine. It’ll be okay. I’ve been reporting him over the past few weeks. At some point someone’s gotta take me seriously, right?” Lynn said, a nervous laugh trickling through her words.

The green haired man slid back in his chair, not realizing he had pulled forward to brood under his dark cloud. He shook his head slightly before smiling at Lynnette and nodding. “Yeah, and if things do come to a push and shove sort of situation, you’re not alone.”

Awsten slid forward again, propping his elbows on his knees as he looked to Lynnette with a sincere and open expression. “I know we don’t know each other very well, but I’m here to help. We don’t have to be friends for me to care about your well-being. If you ever, ever, _ever_ need help with anything… you know where I live.”

The weird pit of dread in Lynn’s stomach came raging right back, and to be honest… she wished it wasn’t there. Awsten was trying to be sincere, and all she could think about was how intense he was and how much it scared her.

“Uh… yeah. I know. Thank you, by the way.” she said, shrinking back against her chair as she avoided eye contact with the other person in the room.

Awsten’s attention was diverted to something near the base of the hallways behind Lynn, and his face broke out into a wide smile. 

Something in that relieved the tension growing in Lynn’s side of the room and she breathed a quiet sigh of relief before looking to the ground behind her. 

There was… a cat. A very cute black cat, actually.

Lynn looked back to Awsten as the cat scampered towards him with a chorus of small rumbles and chirps. 

“Who’s this lil’ guy?” Lynn asked, watching the cat leap onto Awsten’s lap.

“This is Jet, and she may just be my hairy soulmate.” Awsten snickered as Jet curled into his lap nearly immediately, staring at Lynn with wide green eyes. She didn’t seem afraid of Lynn, just simply curious and unfamiliar. She meowed at Lynn from Awsten’s lap, kneading his legs with a near manic energy.

“I think I’m in love with your cat.” Lynn said from her spot, a smile breaking the dull white noise in her brain.

“I’m sure she’ll grow to like you if you come around often enough. She’s pretty affectionate.” he turned to coo at the cat in his lap, rubbing her chin with his knuckles. “Yeah, you’re affectionate. Lovey dovey, I might add.” he murmured before pressing a small kiss to Jet’s forehead.

Lynn smiled at the two of them before sitting back up, hoping against all hope that maybe Jet would approach her.

Well, she knew it wasn’t going to end up like that. Not without an exceptionally affectionate cat, and Jet seemed to still need to adjust and figure Lynn out.

Awsten watched Jet hop off of his lap and trot back down the hall, presumably back to wherever she was relaxing in the first place. He turned to Lynn. “Well that was Jet. I hadn’t figured she’d come out and say hello yet, but I guess there’s always room for something new.” 

Lynnette nodded in acknowledgement before nibbling her lip a little and looking to the ground. “I uh… sorry. It’s been a long time since I tried to make new friends outside of school.”

Awsten looked taken aback by that comment, “Since school? How old are you?”

Lynn gave a small chortle and shrugged, “ I’m turning twenty three this next month. On the fourth.”

Awsten widened his eyes at nothing in particular and huffed a breath. “Jesus. We’re only five years apart. I was afraid it was a scary number and you were small or something.” he pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes and sighed.

“Afraid of me being small?”

Awsten rubbed his hands over his face and shook his head. “Nothin’ against teenagers or anything, but inviting one into my house when I’m alone seems kinda questionable.”

Lynn nodded as she looked up in thought, “Point taken.”

She shifted in the seat and looked around the room. “So other than your deep emotional connection to Danny Devito, what is there to know about Mr. Awsten?”

“Uh, I like music. I love The Office, _good god I love The Office_. I love Jet. I can’t dance but I love playing dance games. My eyeballs survived the miracle of LASIK.” Awsten looked to Lynn with an almost serious expression. “What about you?”

Lynnette sat back for a moment. “Uh. I have a dog and cat back at my parent’s place. I have a younger brother. I like listening to music and writing. I like cartoons but I haven’t had the attention span to sit down and watch one for like months. My favorite color is blue, and I hate biscuits and gravy.”

Awsten snickered at the last string of words. “Biscuits and gravy? Alright.”

Lynn gave a shy giggle and nodded. “Yeah. Biscuits and gravy. Something about salty soggy bread doesn’t sit right with me. Comfort food, _my ass_.”

The pair chatted back and forth for next hour or so before Lynnette said goodbye and walked back to her apartment with a bounce in her step.


End file.
